Pillar of Yita

Or perhaps when they clashed at the Traveler’s Rest, the other party just didn’t have a Flexible Construct at hand, and that’s why they couldn’t show their strength?

But after thinking for a moment, he still asked: ”What do you mean?”

This was the first time Fang Hong heard the other party speak, their voice was quite ordinary, not nearly as cold as he had imagined.

”Nothing, I was just curious. Since I’ve dealt with you before, it seems to me that you, and your Big Sister, are just ordinary people. I just don’t quite understand why you’re cooperating with the Dragonfire Guild; aren’t you worried about the consequences?”

Twenty was slightly stunned, raised his head to look at him: ”You’re concerned about this?”

”I’m just a bit curious. You should know the origin of my conflict with your group, but it was purely by chance, resulting from some personal disagreements.”

Fang Hong deliberately omitted matters related to Atira, as very few people knew about it and its impact was minimal. In fact, besides the mastermind behind the scenes, few knew that Hilveld had been investigating the disappearance of those Adventurers.

But even if the other party really knew some clues and showed a different expression, he wasn’t worried. Because at the very least, he could analyze the connection between the Dragonfire Guild and that behind-the-scenes mastermind.

Yet the other party really seemed unaware, showing no change in their demeanor.

Only then did Fang Hong say: ”Moreover, we have now defeated your caravan; your guild is already on the brink under the pincer attack of Spiderlings and Giants. If we take one more step forward, you understand what will happen next, right?”

”You want to negotiate with us?”

Fang Hong nodded.

Twenty hesitated for a moment, yet to speak, when suddenly a voice came from the green gemstone at his collar:

”What do you want?”

It was a man’s voice, stern and indifferent.

Fang Hong paused slightly — he didn’t expect that green gemstone to be a Communication Crystal, and apart from the man’s voice, faint sounds of combat could be heard. He even heard the ’Big Sister’s’ voice coming from within.

This indicated that the other party was not among the Dragonfire Guild’s caravan, but on the battlefield.

This person’s status must be quite high, Fang Hong thought almost immediately.

Feeling a subtle stir in his heart, this was the first time he had really ’faced’ the high-level members of the Dragonfire Guild. But Fang Hong did not speak directly, instead, he asked Twenty: ”Who is that?”

The voice took the initiative to answer: ”I am the Captain of the Dragonfire Guild’s Third Caravan, fully responsible for this mission.”

If Fang Hong hadn’t followed these people all the way here, he might have believed it. But a mere Captain couldn’t possibly command such a large-scale operation; one caravan of a guild is no more than a hundred people. Even a Captain with significant authority would find commanding two or three caravans to be the limit.

The more the other party concealed their identity, the closer it aligned with the truth he suspected — to command operations of this scale, one must at least be at the vice-Chairman level.

But on the surface, Fang Hong chose to trust the other party’s words —

After thinking for a moment, he spoke: ”Mr. Captain, your caravan is already here, and the current situation is very clear. If I wanted spoils of war, we could just take them ourselves, no need for you to handle it.”

The other party was silent for a moment, then asked: ”So, what do you want?”

”First, to satisfy my curiosity.”

”Second, Mr. Captain, you can estimate the losses if the mission fails; I don’t think a price of one-third is unreasonable, right?”

”Third, the grudges between ’Big Sister’ and us, after which both parties have gains and losses, so from now on it’s written off.”

”You wish!”

From the other side came the ’Big Sister’s’ angry scream, but it quickly subsided.

Fang Hong only looked at Twenty, as if he hadn’t heard the protest — to be precise, he didn’t care about this trivial ’grudge’. The reason he added this point was just to make his ’excuse’ seem more real and credible.

The man’s voice on the other side fell silent for a moment, then asked: ”Friend, aren’t your demands a bit much?”

”Too much?” Fang Hong countered: ”For example, the third point, right now we’re negotiating a deal; if the deal goes through, you’re not planning to pursue us, are you?”

After saying this, he quickly took a breath because he almost couldn’t hold back his laughter. Having been with Miss Ship’s Officer for so long, he seemed to have also learned how to speak nonsense with a straight face.

”Alright, we agree to this point in principle.” The man replied.

”And the second point?”

”Considering you were able to defeat Grey Scale, we also accept your price.”

Only then did Fang Hong learn the name of the Dragonfire Guild’s caravan, but he remained calm: ”And the first point?”

”Friend, too much curiosity is not a good thing.”

”Not that exaggerated, Mr. Captain,” Fang Hong retorted: ”I’m not peeping into anything, just curious if you’re not afraid of Stargate Port’s retaliation?”

The man’s tone noticeably changed: ”This is none of your business.”

Fang Hong furrowed his brow slightly.

He actually didn’t expect an answer, but the other party’s wary reaction already revealed a lot — if the reaction was hesitance and anger, it could be explained that the other party was under the influence and coercion of the Dragon Worship Sect.

However, the man’s response precisely indicated that the Dragonfire Guild was fully aware of the consequences of their actions:

The higher-ups of the Dragonfire Guild knew very well that once they returned to Earth, they would face sanctions from Stargate Port. Considering the severity of their actions, they would almost certainly spend their remaining life in prison. Yet, the other side still chose to walk down such a path, so what was the reason?

Fang Hong looked at Twenty and found that the other party also displayed an indifferent expression toward this issue.

This expression allowed him to capture more details, implying that not only the higher-ups but even the core elite members of the Dragonfire Guild seemed to be involved. Whether this extended to ordinary members, he couldn’t be certain at the moment.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant.

The negotiation seemed to reach an impasse.

Fang Hong was a bit indecisive, quietly asking Miss Tata in his mind: ”What should we say next, should we relax some conditions?”

”Mr. Knight, according to negotiation skills, you should press further.”

”We hold an absolute advantage, conceding voluntarily will only raise suspicion—”

Fang Hong was somewhat surprised, asking: ”Miss Tata, where did you learn this?”

”I am the Guardian of the Great Library, Mr. Knight.”

Fang Hong was rendered speechless.

However, on the surface, he adopted an unyielding expression, looking at the gemstone at Twenty’s collar: ”Is Mr. Captain implying that our negotiation has broken down?”

There was a long silence from the other side before a cold, rebutting question came through: ”Friend, stopping while you’re ahead is beneficial to both of us. Although you hold a temporary advantage, don’t forget that Stargate Port has yet to constrain us, and we will undoubtedly have dealings in the future—”

”If it weren’t for a fortuitous encounter, I wouldn’t want to deal with you,” Fang Hong replied. Yet he discerned from the hardness of the tone that the underlying implication was actually a sign of submission: ”Let’s talk about something practical—”

”So what do you really want?” The tone on the other side indeed changed.

Hesitating for a moment, Fang Hong finally asked the most crucial question: ”I just want to know, what benefits did the Dragon Worship Sect offer you?”

The communication channel fell into a deathly silence.

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